How to Know When It’s Time to Quit Your Job

Is it lunchtime already?

You punch your iPhone awake.

8:15. In the morning.

Crap. At this rate, it will be Christmas before you get to head home. Geeze. When did it get this bad? And will it continue to be this bad? Because you can’t handle that. Nooooo way. You’ll break before you go another year like this.

But…then again…there’s reason to think it’ll get better. You like your new manager. She’s pretty cool. And apparently that new thai restaurant is opening down the street. Yay power lunches. Plus you’re probably going to get a raise in the fall, and that should tide you over until…

Until when?

Honestly, you’re not really sure. All you really know, is that as much as you try to push it out of your head, quitting sounds pretty damn awesome right now. You’ve even got a pile of two week notices stashed in your desk just waiting to see daylight! You wrote each one over your 3 o’clock coffee break, knowing that one day, just one day, you might work up the nerve to pull one out.

But ugh! Wouldn’t quitting be irresponsible? Or selfish? Or impulsive? How can you know if this feeling is just a funk, or a wake-up call?

It’s a tough call–I feel you–but sooner or later, it’s one you’re going to have to make. So let’s dive into how you really can tell if it’s time to quit your job.

1. You aren’t excited about the next step

Or any of the steps afterwards, either.

Take a look around you. There is at least one person, if not plenty, who are above you in status. You probably interact with them on a daily basis, or at least hear about them on a daily basis. So by now you have a pretty good idea of exactly what it is that they do.

The question is, does their cool fancy job excite you?

If you can’t think of ONE upper level employee who has a position within your company that you aspire to hold…then it’s probably time to march out the back door. It’s one thing if you’re sick of being an entry level worker but have your eye on an exciting promotion. But if you already got the promotion — or there’s nothing to get promoted to — there’s really not much of a reason to grind day in and day out, is there?

Humans need to feel like we are going places. Forward movement is our calling. So if you don’t feel like moving forward in the company because you aren’t excited about what’s at the end of the tunnel, get out and find a place that excites you.

No forward movement potential = not a happy camper.

2. Your job doesn’t fit your personality.

Have you done some digging into who you are as a person? It’s rather important, especially for career and relationships. Your personality is a blueprint for the person you are — and it can help you figure out if you are in a place that utilizes or wastes your talents.

Once you receive your results, do a little research and see what you find. Most likely you will stumble upon loads of information about which careers enhance your talents and which ones drain your energy. Knowing this information can help you get a handle on whether things aren’t clicking because you’re bored, or whether they’re not clicking because it’s simply not a match. And if you can figure that out, you are one step closer to finding a career that IS right for you.

3. It’s all about the paycheck

Yes, it’s good to have money. I won’t argue that. But when your paycheck is becoming toxic to your health, we have a problem.

If you are staying around just to collect that comfortable lump sum every other week, there are lots of other ways to make money. Ways that won’t crush your soul. And let’s face it, in the end, if your unhappiness and stress continue to increase, you won’t be around to enjoy all that money you’ve been collecting anyway.

Point is, do not let money intimidate or imprison you. There is a lot of it out there, and there are plenty of ways to wrangle it in. So what if you need to bartend for a handful of months to get by while you figure out your next move? At least you will feel like you’re actually heading somewhere exciting rather than withering away in a stale cubicle.

Don’t let money be your Hello Kitty bandaid when your job is beating you down. It’s just not worth it. So start researching ways to make some fast cash to cover you during your transition phase, and let’s keep going.

4. You continue to compare your career to your friends’ careers

Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side. Or is it?

I find that most people who are truly happy with their careers aren’t looking over their shoulders wondering what their peers are up to. It’s just like owning a dog. When you truly love your dog (which most decent humans do), you don’t compare your dog to somebody else’s dog. You love your dog. Your dog is special. In fact, your dog is damn near perfect. So who the hell cares what Rover is doing next door when you’ve got little Emma curled up at your feet? Not me, that’s for sure.

Same goes for careers. If you feel like everyone else around you is doing something that seems more worthwhile, it’s time for you to give yourself the chance to explore other options. You don’t have to be glued to this job just because it’s what you have always been doing. You are allowed flexibility in your life. You are allowed to try new things. So if you are stuck in the quicksand of a boring job, go see what’s out there!

5. Your job dissatisfaction is spilling over into your personal life

This is really important. If you are so unhappy with your current career that it’s affecting other areas of your life, you have got to make a change.

Careers at their worst bring in money for us to live off of and and supply a mildly pleasant way to spend our weekdays. At their best, they fulfill a core need of ours to influence our environment and contribute our talents to society. And BONUS — they also pay the rent and then some. Meaning, your career can be an amazing source of happiness. And for all the hard work you have put in thus far to receive an education and land a job, you deserve that experience.

Ready to quit your job?

I salute you. And your first assignment is to erase the notion in your head that quitting is for the weak and cowardly. It’s not. Quitting a job that turns you into a miserable human you don’t even recognize is the BRAVE thing to do. If you need some reassurance or wish to talk it out, Blush is a wonderful option for girls just like you. We see this all the time – and we know how to help. Sign up today!

Be sure to use your best two week notice draft — I know you have many to choose from. Good luck!